Jacobs makes his Marc in London

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Have you been lusting after the quilted leather, chain-handled handbags with oversized clasps that are flooding the high street this spring? Have you swooned over the pretty silk tunic dresses on racks in high street stores or invested in another pair of cute, pointy flats to wear to work?

Very few women can claim to have a wardrobe untouched by Marc Jacobs - the originator of all of the above. He is currently the most influential man in fashion and has been the catalyst for an incredible tally of trends during his career from early Nineties grunge and combat trousers to pretty prom dresses and decorative bows.

This week, Jacobs comes to London where he will present his younger, "Marc" collection at Claridges - the first time he has shown outside New York. It's a huge boost to the city's Fashion Week which is all too often viewed as a scruffier, less important sibling to New York, Milan and Paris.

On the same day, Jacobs will open his first London store in Mayfair before hosting what promises to be Fashion Week's glitziest party. He has taken over the entire ground floor of the notoriously discreet Connaught Hotel, booked three DJs and invited 800 guests - from Sofia Coppola to Salma Hayek to Winona Ryder and Anna Wintour (who is flying in especially).

So how has a geeky-looking 43-year-old New Yorker become fashion's most bankable and followed star? Jacobs has an awe-inspiring knack for knowing what women will want to wear long before we know ourselves. He has the same kind of prescience about fashion as other great designers, such as Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent.

After a degree at New York's prestigious Parson's School of Design, he started his own label in 1984 with Robert Duffy who is still vice-chairman of the company. In 1989 Jacobs became head of womenswear at Perry Ellis, and his big break - if you can call it that - came in 1992 when he presented his now legendary grunge collection.

His street-inspired distressed dowdiness was a look too far for a fashion industry immersed in sleek Nineties styling and he was duly sacked.

Yet in the same year he was also crowned Designer of the Year at the annual CFDA awards, New York's fashion "Oscars", and the "grunge" look was championed by editors at Vogue and Mademoiselle. That look continues its ripple effect to this day - think Kiera Knightley in her sloppy beanie hat and hefty biker boots.

One of the questions fashion experts are most frequently asked is: "How do trends happen? How is that so many designers seem to come up with the same look at the same time?" The reality is that a handful of designers set the fashion agenda and lead the way for everyone else, and Jacobs is at the forefront of this design elite.

It's the reason why editors, buyers and fashion-conscious celebrities will routinely sit and wait for 90 minutes to see the designer's collection each season. No one knows more about what is coming next than Jacobs - and in fashion that's the holy grail.

Jacobs's unpredictable streak is a key to his success; his about-turns are legendary and always influential - last week, in New York, he went against every trend of the moment with his collection for next autumn. His elegantly suited chic models looked grown-up and refined and a world away from the girly smocks and tricky volume that dominate fashion this spring. It was a radical shift but by August every high street store will be mimicking it in one way or another.

What Jacobs does is not necessarily new - his summer collection's light and airy layers owe a debt to the 1920s and 1940s, while next autumn's colourful retro suiting could have been lifted straight from French Vogue circa 1974. What is new is the Jacobs interpretation - putting clothes and accessories into an entirely novel context that becomes of-the-moment.

His bags, for example, may largely draw upon the classic Chanel quilted leather and chain, but the look is given a contemporary twist with oversized clasps and attention-grabbing hardware, such as padlocks and studs.

That is why his shows are scrutinised more than any other in the fashion calender and why his signature looks are echoed in record time by high street stores. Topshop has virtually built its revival on a very clever interpretation of Jacobs's design footprint - its tunic dresses, bib-front T-shirts and blouses, dolly shoes and colourful twill jackets and coats have all smacked of Jacobs quirkiness.

If you traipsed around Primark looking for its cotton twill military jackets a few summers ago you were also buying into one of the designer's most widely imitated looks.

For the moment Jacobs's appeal shows no sign of waning and Friday night's bash will be ample illustration of his popularity. Some of the uninvited have already checked into the Connaught so that they can infiltrate the party on the night.

Others will have to make do with a bystander position on the pavements outside, but you can guarantee they will all be wearing some trace of the Jacobs legacy.